The North Face Apparel Corp. is suing a parody company called The South Butt and the teenager who started it.
The lawsuit filed last week in federal court in St. Louis seeks unspecified damages and asks the court to prohibit The South Butt from marketing and selling its parody product line.
The North Face says it does not comment on pending litigation.
The South Butt’s attorney, Albert Watkins, says the company was started by 18-year-old Jimmy Winkelmann to help pay for college. It puts out products with the tag line “Never Stop Relaxing,” a parody of The North Face line, “Never Stop Exploring.”
The South Butt described the forthcoming legal battle as a modern day David and Goliath encounter and has even come up with a cheeky Facebook application that challenges users to spot the difference between a face and a butt.
Watkins thinks it should be easy enough. “The South Butt has previously made it clear to the North Face that the consuming public is insightful enough to know the difference between a face and a butt,” he said.
Comments left on The South Butt blog expressed mixed feelings over the lawsuit.
“Hand ‘em their ass, Jimmy! Make some bank for the holidays and then make them settle out of court,” said a user named “Mr_T.”
A comment from “Will” was more pessimistic. “Your logo is just theirs upside down…It’s a clear case of trying to profit from their brand.”
(AFP WITH STAFF WRITER)
「樂斯菲斯」(直譯:北面)服飾公司對刻意模仿其名稱的「南臀」公司,以及成立該公司的青少年提出告訴。
聖路易聯邦法院上週受理這項訴訟,北面要求法院禁止南臀行銷及販售其刻意諧仿的生產線,並向其索取侵權賠償,賠償金額不明。
北面公司表示,在法院做出裁決前他們不便發表意見。
南臀公司的律師艾伯特.瓦特欽斯說,該公司是十八歲的吉米.溫凱爾曼為了籌措大學學費成立的。其產品標牌上寫著「永不停止放鬆」,諧仿北面公司的「永不停止冒險」。
南臀公司形容即將面對的這場法律訴訟,儼然是現代版的大衛對決歌利亞,社交網站「臉書」上甚至出現一個俏皮的應用程式,遊戲中網友必須辨認出臉和屁股的不同。
瓦特欽斯認為這應該是很簡單的一件事,他說:「南臀公司之前就已向北面公司澄清過,消費大眾的眼睛是雪亮的,他們分得出臉和屁股的不同。」
南臀公司的部落格上,網友留言表示對這個官司感到百感交集。
一位「T先生」留言說:「給他們好看,吉米!趁耶誕佳節大撈一筆,然後逼他們庭外和解。」
另一個網友「威爾」可就沒那麼樂觀了,他說:「你們的商標只是把他們的商標倒過來…這個案件很明顯是你想利用他們的品牌獲利。」 (法新社╱翻譯:袁星塵)
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
It’s widely recognized that there are far more right-handed people than left-handed people in the world. Being right-handed simply means preferring to use one’s right hand for tasks that involve only one hand, such as writing and eating. But have you ever wondered about the possible reasons behind the global dominance of the right hand over the left? As with many complex biological questions, multiple factors appear to be at play. First, one reason seems to be genetics. __1__ Therefore, the global dominance of right-handedness is something that has been passed down through many generations of humans. Next,
A: What’s even more horrible is that the five suspects who purposely supplied ketamine to actor Matthew Perry were all his “friends.” B: Who exactly are the five suspects? A: They include Matthew’s two doctors, a broker, a drug dealer, and even his live-in assistant. B: Those scumbags should go to jail. A: Yeah, one of the doctors may be sentenced to up to 120 years in prison. A: 更可怕的是,提供男星馬修派瑞「K他命」的5人全是他的「朋友」。 B: 嫌犯是誰啊? A: 其中包括他的2位醫生、1位仲介、1位毒販、甚至他的同居助理! B: 那些人渣真該去坐牢。 A: 對啊,其中1位醫生可能面臨120年徒刑。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
On blazing hot summer days, fresh ingredients and cool refreshments straight from a refrigerator feel like nothing short of a miracle. However, chilled foods didn’t begin with modern refrigerators. In fact, the origin of refrigeration precedes the invention of this now-indispensable appliance by centuries. Initially, the quest for refrigeration was motivated more by the desire to cool beverages than to preserve food. The ancient Greeks and Romans, for instance, used snow stored in insulated pits to chill wine. Around the fourth century BC, the Persians made a significant stride in refrigeration techniques when they devised the yakhchal. Fashioned from